Detroit Public Schools Trying to Keep Children’s Museum
Open

DETROIT — Detroit Public Schools announced it is working on
options to keep the Detroit Children’s Museum open, according to The Detroit
News. DPS first learned the museum was in trouble when the Detroit Science
Center announced it lacked the funds to run the facility.

According
to The News, DPS owns the Children’s Museum but control of the day-to-day
operations was transferred to the Science Center in 2010. While the Science
Center closed in September due to financial issues, it was able to keep the
Children’s Museum open through December with federal funds.

Saline
Schools Considers Mandating ‘Pledge of Allegiance’

SALINE, Mich. — Trustee David
Holden has asked the Saline Board of Education to mandate a daily recitation of
the “Pledge of Allegiance,” according to AnnArbor.com.

“A lot of people focus on ‘one nation,
under God,’ but I prefer to focus on the back end of the pledge: ‘with liberty
and justice for all,’” Holden told AnnArbor.com. “I think it works very well
with some of the things we are trying to do to discourage bullying.”

Some students support Holden’s
proposal, while others are concerned that requiring the pledge could backfire
and actually make bullying a larger issue. Aaron Mukerjee, a student
representative from Saline High School, told AnnArbor.com he was worried
students who chose not to say the pledge might be ostracized.

AnnArbor.com also reported the
Michigan Senate passed a bill requiring all students to recite the pledge at
the beginning of every school day. That bill remains in committee but is
expected to easily pass the House if brought to a floor vote.

48
Districts Post Budget Deficits, 22 Larger Than $1 Million

LANSING, Mich. — Almost 50 of
Michigan’s 550 school districts posted a budget deficit for 2010-2011,
according to The Grand Rapids Press, with 22 districts overspending by at least
$1 million. These figures represent a
substantial increase from a decade ago, when 18 districts were in the red and
only three had deficits larger than $1 million.

“Every district has unique
reasons for why they are in a deficit,” Michigan Department of Education
spokeswoman Jan Ellis told The Press.

Ellis also noted that 165 school
districts have posted deficits at some point over the last 21 years, according
to The Press. About 20 percent of these districts took three years or longer to
bring their spending back in line with revenues.

Number of Charter Schools to Increase Slowly

LANSING, Mich. — A leading advocate of charter public
schools does not expect to see a large increase in their numbers despite a new
law that removes the cap, according to Michigan Radio.

Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of
Public School Academies, said that instead of exploding he expects the number
of new charter public schools to slowly increase over the next several years.

“The new law will probably have more effect on fall
2013," Quisenberry told Michigan Radio. "And even then we wouldn’t
expect some kind of dramatic change."

Previously, Michigan public universities were only allowed
to collectively authorize up to 150 charter public schools. Even with the removal of that cap, only six
public universities are currently taking applications to open new charter
public schools, according to The Detroit Free Press.

Financial Emergency Declared in Highland Park School
District

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. — Gov. Rick Snyder has declared the
Highland Park School District is in a financial emergency, according to The Detroit
News. Pending a hearing before Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike
Flanagan, the door is now open for Gov. Snyder to appoint an emergency manager
for the troubled school district.

The district’s deficit grew from $6.6 million last year to
$11.3 million this year. As part of the governor’s declaration, the state
advanced $188,000 for the district to make payroll and remain open through
mid-February, according to The News.

MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education Report, an online
newspaper published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a private,
nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute.